“I am the LORD that Healeth Thee”
(Exod. 15:26) KJV
We are in the Second Month of the Hebrew Religious Calendar called Iyar. Iyar is known as a month of healing. Iyar is an acronym for “I am the LORD that healeth thee.” (Exod. 15:26) Iyar is a link between the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Weeks Shavuot/Pentecost.
We need to pay special attention to this linking time. It is a time of transition. The Children of Israel were going through a process, a transition in their ability to think differently. From the Exodus to Mt. Sinai, God was taking them through a process from bondage, from a slave mentality, to their receiving and understanding divine covenantal instructions and revelation.
During their short fifty day process from one place (Passover) to another (Pentecost), we see instances of murmuring and complaining. Because of their spiritual immaturity, they could only focus on what was missing in their lives. Forgetting all they had been delivered from, they became critical, possibly ignorant of the fact that unfounded criticism is actually a perversion of true discernment. They temporarily forgot that they had a prophetic destination. Moses called that destination “the Mountain of God.” They temporarily forgot Moses’ prophetic song of the LORD about their destiny – Exod. 15:17 “You shall bring them in and plant them in the Mountain of Your Inheritance, the PLACE.” I believe God offers continuous, new levels of clear thinking for all His people; that through faith and patience we inherit our prophetic promises, but with conditions. We must be careful not to murmur, complain or interpret our situation incorrectly.
THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD
David had much to say about the Mountain of God in Psalm 24:3 “Who shall go up into the Hill of Jehovah? Or who shall stand in His holy PLACE?” Psalm 24:4 “He who has clean hands and a PURE heart.” If our hearts are pure, we have the ability to think clearly, SEE God and receive the secret of the LORD. In Psalm 15:1, David says, “Jehovah, who shall dwell in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell on Your holy hill?” Psalm 15:2 “He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.” Psalm 15:3 “He does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor.”
TRANSITION
Before the birth of a child in pregnancy, a woman goes through “transition,” which is a very difficult phase in the labor process. Though it is intense and can cause the mother to become discouraged and disoriented, it is the shortest phase usually lasting about one and a half hours. During transition, a mother needs the greatest emotional support from her partner or coach. She needs directions and instructions on how to breathe, how to focus, how not to give into panic and how to endure the pain.
Spiritually, or otherwise, many of us are in this transition period. We must be encouraged to focus on the MOUNTAIN of REVELATION and not the VALLEY OF DOUBT. Just as the expectant mother is told to FOCUS, the Lord is encouraging us to do the same. Focus on the mountain of the LORD. Heb. 12:1 “Therefore, since we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Heb. 12:22 “You have come to Mt. Zion and to the city of the living God.” Heb. 12:25 “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks.”
ISSACHAR AND SET TIMES
The Feasts of Jehovah are set times and appointments when God gives decisive revelation knowledge. Through this revelation, we must be able to interpret the times. Iyar is also the month that the Tribe of Issachar is recognized. Issachar, the 9th son of Leah and Jacob, received a blessing from his father. Jacob blessed him by saying “when he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor” (Gen. 49:14-15). This passage has been interpreted to mean that Issachar bent his shoulder (labored) to study the Torah/the instructions of God.
Moses exalted Issachar by saying he was blessed in his tent, meaning he concentrated on studying Torah, God’s instructions. (Deut. 33:18-19) The tribe of Issachar knew the times in which they lived. They knew how to bind the enemy. They could do so because their study caused them to know the Word of God and understand secrets. Likewise, we can know exactly what to do by studying the instruction of God (His infallible Word) (Rom. 12:1-2) received from the mighty Mountain of the Lord.
May you be blessed and encouraged.
